Last year: Mickelson, playing alongside Tiger Woods in the next-to-last group, shot a final-round 64 to collect his first win in 10 months. Mickelson trailed third-round leader Charlie Wi by six shots starting the day, but Mickelson played the first six holes in 5-under-par to take the lead. He finished two strokes ahead of Wi.

Prince of Pebble II: The victory was Mickelson's fourth in the AT&T, leaving him one short of Mark O'Meara's total. O'Meara, dubbed the Prince of Pebble Beach, first won the tournament in 1985, when it was still known as the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am. "I'm going to try to match Mark," Mickelson said.

Tiger absent: Woods, after returning to the event last year for the first time since 2002, will stay away this time. He has never been a big fan of the celebrity scene and occasionally bumpy greens; his appearance in 2012 probably satisfied a corporate obligation to longtime sponsor AT&T. Woods played well for three days before staggering to a final-round 75.

No time to waste: Snedeker, the highest-ranked player in the field (at No. 7 in the world), is one of the most good-natured tour pros around - and one of the quickest on the course. Other players could learn from Snedeker's swift pace. He also won the FedEx Cup title last year.

Big hitters:Bubba Watson is not in the field, but fans of the long ball still have plenty of tantalizing choices. Robert Garrigus ranked third on the PGA Tour last year in driving distance (at 310.3 yards per measured drive), Dustin Johnson was fourth, J.B. Holmes was sixth and Jason Day was seventh. Jason Kokrak led the Nationwide Tour in driving distance (at 318.6 yards) in 2011.

This week's forecast: There's a 30 percent chance of rain Thursday and 10 percent chance Friday, according to weather.com. Saturday and Sunday are expected to be sunny, cool and dry.